Pakistan, US clash over Afghanistan at UN

Srinagar, January 20 (KMW): The United States has urged Pakistan not to give sanctuary to “terrorist organizations” — and Pakistan demanded that the Trump administration address safe havens inside Afghanistan and its income from the narcotics trade, reported The Washington Post.

The exchange took place Friday at a UN Security Council meeting on the issue of Afghanistan’s relations with its Central Asia neighbours and the link between peace and security.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said the United States can’t work with Pakistan if it continues to give sanctuary to terrorist organisations and need to stop this and join efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict.

Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi countered that Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, need to address “challenges inside Afghanistan rather than shift the onus for ending the conflict onto others”.

The exchange followed the Trump administration’s announcement this month that it was suspending military aid to Pakistan until it takes decisive action against militants.

Armed clashes in Afghanistan in the past year were the highest in a decade and civilian casualties remained at near-record levels. More than 2 million people were directly affected by the conflict in 2017, with some 448,000 having to abandon their homes to save their lives.